Author: Ken Thomas, Associated
Press Writer
Publication: Washington Post
Date: June 23, 2002
URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32029-2002Jun23.html
Jose Padilla, accused of conspiring
to explode a "dirty bomb" in the United States, worked at a suburban Taco
Bell and discovered Islam here.
Two young Pakistani immigrants from
nearby Hollywood allegedly hatched a plan to attack South Florida power
plants and a National Guard Armory.
And several of the Sept. 11 hijackers
roamed the area's libraries, gyms and beachfront motels.
They all made their home - at least
temporarily - in South Florida's Broward County, leading some to wonder
if this growing suburban and tourist area north of Miami has become a common
destination for would-be terrorists.
"If you want to have access to all
kinds of things that might appeal to someone who is here for the wrong
purposes and want to be able to have a certain level of anonymity, this
is certainly the place to be," said Edward Mandt, dean of the Institute
of Public Safety at Broward Community College.
With miles of strip malls, about
7.5 million tourists visiting every year and a growing degree of diversity,
many say Broward County, and all of South Florida, is an ideal place to
keep a low profile.
"It's a melting pot. It's not like
in Montana where you would stick out like a sore thumb," said Ben Graber,
a Broward County commissioner. "Here you just blend in with the population."
Consider the past nine months:
- At least seven of the 19 men who
crashed hijacked planes on Sept. 11 had spent time in the county. Mohamed
Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi went to a Hollywood bar the week before the attacks
and played video golf. Seven others lived nearby in Palm Beach County's
Delray Beach.
- Pakistani immigrants Imran Mandhai,
19, and Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, 24, of Hollywood were accused this spring
of conspiring to bomb electrical transformers and the Israeli Consulate
in Miami.
- Safraz Jehaludi, a 21-year old
computer technician from Miramar, is being held on charges he sent the
FBI anonymous e-mail messages threatening to blow up the White House and
a Florida power plant.
Broward County's latest connection
to alleged terrorism has surfaced mostly strongly with Padilla, who spent
about a year in the county jail and lived in the county for much of the
1990s.
While federal law enforcement officials
have questioned whether Padilla became an extremist during his stay in
Florida, investigators have sought out those who worshipped at mosques
with the young man known then as "Ibrahim."
Adham Hassoun, 40, was arrested
on an immigration violation earlier this month by members of the South
Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force. Two newspapers reported that Hassoun
and Padilla were acquaintances at Masjid Al-Iman, a Fort Lauderdale mosque.
The cases have cast additional scrutiny
on South Florida's burgeoning Muslim community. Recent census figures do
not list Muslims, but the number of Broward County residents listing their
ethnicity as Arab increased 70 percent during the decade to nearly 11,000.
Following a meeting Wednesday, Muslim
leaders condemned the wave of detainments of Muslim and Arab men nationwide
as part of the terrorism investigation and said Muslims are being unfairly
targeted in South Florida.
"The community is getting the feeling
that there is free speech and the First Amendment in this county, but it
doesn't apply if you're Muslim or Arab," said Khurrum Wahid, civil rights
director for the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Rafiq Mahdi, the prayer leader of
Masjid Al-Iman, said the cases here have raised concern among the 250 to
300 worshippers who gather every Friday night at the suburban mosque.
"We don't mind the scrutiny. We
do want it to be carried out with a degree of recognition of our civil
rights as individuals," Mahdi said. He said Muslims want security concerns
to be handled "with a zeal and not a bias."
Observers say the county's growth
and diversity have added a layer of anonymity for potential wrongdoers.
Recent census figures show Broward County's population grew nearly 30 percent
during the past decade to more than 1.6 million.
Others point to the proximity to
Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and the Port of Miami, two of the state's
busiest ports, and the region's airports and flight schools.
"There's not that much feeling that
you need to say 'Who is this?' because it's just accepted that it's a transient
society down here," said William Marina, a Florida Atlantic University
historian.
The post-Sept. 11 world has led
the Broward County sheriff's office to work more closely with federal law
enforcement to share information and training. "Now we're all shifting
gears together to pay more attention to terrorism issues," spokeswoman
Cheryl Stopnick said.
